I was picking vegetables in my farm which is only some meters from the crash site. All of a sudden an unusual sound startled me. To my surprise, I saw an imbalanced plane that was emitting black smoke from its tail. It seemed that the plane was heading toward the river, but failed and instead crashed on the open ground near my home. Soon, people gathered around the site.
When we reached near the crashed plane, I heard what seemed like cries of the people inside the plane, but couldn´t see anything because the plane´s interior was full of smoke. The door of the aircraft was shut and there was no way we could have broken the door open as we abstained from getting closer anticipating a blast. Within a few minutes an enormous fire engulfed the plane. Fire engines and police arrived 30 minutes later. Even the cockpit was filled with smoke and fire. We are safe because the pilot tried to crash land the aircraft in the river in order to save the settlement that is home to hundreds of people.
Kirtiraj Rai, 39, a driving trainer
I was heading for toilet when I heard strange sound made by the aircraft. Next, I noticed the plane that had lost its balance and, in a matter of few seconds, I saw it crash not very far from where I was standing. What I heard sounded like a bomb blast in the movies. I was totally numb for a while. I couldn´t decide whether to run away or go toward the plane.
But people gathered within minutes and we threw water on the fire using buckets but it didn´t help. We were scared to go near the spot fearing a blast. I couldn´t hear people wailing or screaming from inside the plane as other people said. Soon a massive fire erupted and we knew nobody inside the plane could have survived. I think what I saw will haunt me for sometime. We could have saved some passengers if the plane had landed in the river.
Mugha Dhan Rai, 60, a local
I was walking toward the river to dump garbage. I saw some children playing on one corner of the ground, where the plane ultimately crashed. All of sudden, an unusual sound drew my eyes toward the sky. A plane was falling down with smoke billowing from its tail. I ran toward the safer side with my eyes fixated on the plane, and the children followed me.
I was paralyzed by the sight for a while and just sat on the ground. Soon many people gathered and we tried to make some attempts at rescuing. I bent down and peered inside the plane and saw a hand that was totally burnt. When the rescuers removed the body of the plane, I saw many burnt bodies piled over one another. I am happy that I am safe, but it´s hard for me to believe that 19 people burnt right in front of my eyes. I had just come home from West Bengal, India, to meet my family. I come to Nepal once a year.
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